Manatee cap rail flex

[healhustler]

Hi guyz. Those of you with KK Manatees, can I ask what you are using to caulk the inside seam of the cap rail. Last year I applied a tube of butyl rubber with a caulking gun and it seems the UV was too much for it here in FL. It kind-of cracked everywhere and was leaking before I knew about it. I've had great success with the butyl tape in all applications, but the stuff from the tube just doesn't seem to have the UV resistance. After finding that my stock (5 tubes) of Life Caulk, butyl rubber, and 3M 4200 were ALL dried and solid, I've finished the caulking with my remaining 3M 4000, but in past applications, was not impressed with the flexibility of this product.

Is there any product that you've found ideal for this area of flex? How long does an application last?

 

[HiDHo]

I used SikaFlex Pro polyrethane sealant Monday to seal my port side cap rail. I used this sealant a year ago to seal the s/s tracks on my pilothouse enclosure project. Some of the fill areas where 1/4 to 3/8" and it filled with out sagging and one year later is still pliable and shows no signs of losing it seal. The pilothouse enclosure has been in seas where we took spray over the pilothouse and wind gusts to 40 mph. Best news, because it is not labeled " marine " Home Depot sells it for about $8.00 a tube.

 

[healhustler]

Sure would like to see some photos of the enclosure project. Thanks for the tip on Silka-Flex.

 

[BruceK]

Sikaflex is popular here. Used it on a dinghy 10 years ago, underwater when the dink is in use, and still good. Cetol is a Sikkens product too.

 

[HiDHo]

Larry, photos are in this section dated 6/30/15. The only change was I added edge seal on each side of the Lexan sliders to stiffen them up which solved the flex problem during wind gust.

 

[HiDHo]

Larry, do you or any other Manatee owners have a cross section diagram of the cap rail area construction ?
I'm on phase three of trying to make it leak tight. I first removed all the old chaulk, it was plain to see the old chaulk had failed in the cavity between the f/g and the teak. After cleaning and drying the joint I first put a bead of chaulk into the cavity. Next I chaulked over the bead, let it cure for several days and did a test sprayed with water, it still leaks. I just finished ( see photo ) chaulking a wider bead assuming that I had not sealed the area suffciently.
If I still have a leak I'm thinking of chaulking the under side of the bull nose, is that area chaulked on Bucky ?

 

[silentfaith]

wow, that is a lotta sealant, yea, mine is also pealing away and will be doing the same as you guys. just waiting for the sun to help me with my varnish removal forever project.

craig silent faith

 

[healhustler]

Bill: I don't see any caulk on the underside of the cap rail. I also checked another Manatee nearby and it looks the same. I finished the caulk on the cap rail seam two days ago and in some considerable rain yesterday, there was still some minor leak. I think I'll do the port lights next and then the stanchions in that area. After that, I've got nothing to loose with caulking the underside too. Picked up a few tubes of Silkaflex today. When you consider how many holes and seams there are in the average boat, there's an awful lot to seal.

 

[HiDHo]

Larry, after the torrential rain ( about 7" ) in two days I still have leakage. After I chaulked the cap rail I sealed the port side salon window to eliminate it. I've just finished rebeding the boat deck life line stanchion base aft of the window in the salon area. I found it had a thin layer of what looks like clear silicon chaulk used to seal it and didn't look very water tight. I used butyl ribbon chaulk as a test, I'am putting a 1/8" ring around each deck screw hole and a ring where the threads end and the taper in the screw head begins. I see no need to cover the stanchion base with butyl. Next rain or wash down will see if it worked.